United States President Barack Obama has accepted the nomination of the Democratic party, delivering a speech saying voters face the "choice of a generation".
At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday, he laid out goals for America and told voters: "You didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. You elected me to tell you the truth."
Barack Obama took the stage not in a huge 74,000-seat stadium as organisers had hoped, but inside a convention centre housing 20,000, after party officials cited weather concerns. Republicans blamed the prospect of empty seats for the change of venue.
Mr Obama told delegates and voters watching at home that the nation's problems have built up over "decades" and cannot be fixed in a flash, the BBC reports.
"I won't pretend the path I'm offering is quick or easy. I never have. But when you pick up that ballot to vote - you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation.
"Over the next few years, big decisions will be made in Washington, on jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace - decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children's lives for decades to come."
Setting out his economic vision for the future, Mr Obama said the poll is not just a choice between two candidates or two parties - but between two completely different paths for the US.
He vowed to create jobs and new manufacturing, and reduce the country's dependence on oil, while maintaining a safety net for those in need, and in contrast to Republican rival Mitt Romney, there won't be any tax cuts for the wealthy.
On foreign policy, Mr Obama said Mr Romney lacked experience in international affairs and was unprepared to conduct international diplomacy. He said Mr Romney insulted Britain when he expressed doubt about the country's readiness to stage this year's Olympic Games.
"You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can't visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally."
Mr Obama said Mr Romney and running mate Paul Ryan want to take America back to an era of "blustering and blundering" that cost the country dearly.
Earlier, Vice-President Joe Biden accepted his nomination and criticised Mr Romney for not supporting the US auto industry bailout.
Neck-and-neck in polls
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are running roughly even in polls before the election on 6 November election.
However, Mr Obama has trailed Mr Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who emphasises his business background as head of a private equity fund, in many polls on question of who would best handle the economy.
On Wednesday, former president Bill Clinton told the Democratic convention that no-one could have fixed in four years the economic "mess" Mr Obama inherited from the Republicans.
